Cora’s @ York Mills

I'm usually not a brunch person, but a friend was in town from Ottawa and wanted to go to Cora's before heading downtown to catch her Porter flight.

Mango Banana and Strawberry Banana Smoothies
The mango banana smoothie didn't really have a mango taste - it was predominantly banana. The strawberry banana was much better, but it would have been better if it had a stronger fruit flavor.

Burrito Crepe with eggs, black bean, red & green peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and sour cream and salsa on the side and potatoes.


Sunshine Panini-Crepe with eggs, ham, cheddar cheese and hollandaise sauce on top and fruit salad and toast on the side.

The panini crepe was okay, but I found it a little bland in flavour compared to the burrito crepe.  We preferred the burrito crepe with its stronger flavours (and delicious mix of peppers, onions, cheese and beans). Although, it would have been nice if there was some more depth of flavour like a hint of heat or something with the burrito.

Overall: I had no idea it was so popular on the weekends here.  The food was okay (I'm not a big fan of brunch and although there were tons of options - I didn't see anything that stood out to me).  The service was a little slow - which probably accounts for the long line-ups.

Website: http://www.chezcora.com/en

Utsav

I've been here a few times with my team at work and I thought they served pretty good Indian food. So when my friend came back from Dublin for summer vacation and wanted Indian food, I suggested we go to Utsav in Yorkville. 

Despite the Yorkville location, the lunch specials were pretty reasonable and came with salad and naan:

Simple salad with fresh ingredients

Naan

Chicken Masala and Butter Chicken with rice
Both sauces were really flavourful and rich with the masala sauce spicier than the butter chicken. The beef and chicken also really absorbed the sauces and flavours well and paired perfectly with the rice and naan. Delicious!

Overall: Great place for delicious and reasonably priced Indian food near Yorkville.  The restaurant is a little small with a few tables, but the service was great and we were served our food quickly.

Website: http://www.utsav.ca/

Mr. Greek Express - Aurora

As we were driving home from the cottage, we stopped by in Aurora to grab some food at Mr. Greek Express near the Highway. 

Chicken Souvlaki Wrap

Probably the most pitiful chicken souvlaki wrap I've ever seen or eaten. 

I mean, it had a lot of tzatziki sauce, but there was barely any tomatoes, onions and a sad small chicken skewer. 

Overall: What a huge disappointment - they skimped out on portions, fillings and although it was only $5.25 for the wrap, it wasn't good value for this small amount of food. 

Website: http://mrgreek.com/aurora/menus

Capers - Campbellford (ON)

We learned our lesson after our cottage trip last year in Campbellford (where we over-packed the food).  This year, we decided to go out and eat in town:

Mahi Mahi Sliders with Mango Salsa and Capers' House Salad and fries

The mahi mahi sliders were pretty tasty with the sweet mango salsa. The salad was really good too - but maybe a bit better without the dressing.

Creamy mac and cheese and Capers' house salad
I loved that they baked the mac and cheese so that there was a nice crust of cheese on top and it really was super cheesy.  The ultimate comfort food on a rainy day.  The Capers' house salad was made with seasonal greens, mandarins, sunflower seeds, craisins, cucumbers and tomatoes and was actually really fresh and delicious.

Overall: Good dining in Campbellford! The food was delicious and the food was served in a reasonable amount of time considering how big our group was.

Website: http://www.capersrestaurant.ca/#home/home_layout_2.html

Congee Delight

After a full day hiking in Hamilton (and some great pictures to show for it!), I was starving. 

Waterfalls!

We went to Congee Delight to celebrate a birthday (even though I was a little woozy from sun stroke and dehydration). 

Luckily, Chinese restaurants are really good about refilling your water glass or tea and they usually serve a soup:

Starter soup (with orange peel)

Mushrooms with Bok Choy and Fried Crispy Chicken

Typical vegetarian dish and meat dish - the chicken skin was really crispy, but I probably could have done without the shrimp chips.  

Braised Grouper Tail and Tofu

Apparently this is a good deal for $17 since grouper tail is usually a lot more. However, there was barely any meat on the grouper tail and it was more tofu and grouper skin than anything else. 

Chinese donut (youtiao) with fish cake inside

A specialty here - and really quite good! 

Red bean and tapioca dessert

Overall: Good service (they did an excellent job of constantly refilling my water glass since I kept guzzling water due to my slight dehydration) and the food was pretty good. 

John’s Chinese BBQ

We heard the BBQ pork (char siu) is really good here and we've been looking for a good Cantonese roasted meat restaurant for a while. 

Typical for most Chinese restaurants, we got a starter soup. 

Then they delivered their most popular dish right away:

BBQ pork with rice

The char siu was really tender and sweet - I thought they used a little too much honey with their soy sauce making it a tad too sweet. However, I could see why people came back here even though it is on the expensive side. 

Stir Fried Noodles with Pork

It looked really good and it was okay for the most part - nothing exceptional. 

Shanghai Fried Noodles

I found this a little on the bland side after the stir fried noodles and char siu.  It just lacked a strong flavour (usually I like my Shanghai noodles with more of a meat flavour or soy sauce flavour, but I think all the vegetables kind of diluted those flavours). 

Overall: A decent experience - the service was quick and the food was okay. However, the restaurant didn't really stand out to me.